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People who enjoy visitors need a living room that's welcoming and warm, while those who have a more focused lifestyle may prefer a space that promotes quiet contemplation. Whatever purpose the living room serves, when you want to optimize it under the ancient practice of feng shui, it's important to choose decor items that enhance the room's life-force energy and arrange them in a manner that promotes harmony and balance. Under this ancient Asian practice, the living room's orientation determines where to arrange furniture and decor.

The Front Door

In many homes, the front door opens directly into the living room. Its placement defines the feng shui compass directions for the living room. Each of these directions has an associated color, element and life area, and placing decor items aligned with these directions harmonizes the space and balances chi, or life energy, which enters the home through the front door. The front door also represents the doorway to wealth, so decorate the area around it accordingly. Set two good fortune plants to either side of the front door, a pair of Fu dogs to protect the home against negative energy or a double dragon just inside near the door for prosperity.

Decorate by Direction

On the feng shui energy map -- the bagua -- the wall opposite the door is that of reputation, abundance and relationship, and its color is red. This is a natural place for the fireplace, and also a good wall against which to display rich, imposing sculptures, red curtains or red decor items if you want to create energy in that area of life. The east wall represents the wall of family and elders and is a natural place for an artful arrangement of family pictures. And since wood is the element of east, this is a good wall to decorate with live green plants. Hang your avant-garde artwork and whimsical paintings on the west wall, the wall of creativity.

Balancing Directional Influences

You can play with directional influences to balance chi in the living room and create the best energy for your home and family. Add crystals to the northeast wall to activate the earth element and bring good luck to the children in your home. An aquarium or picture of a waterfall on the southeast wall softens the fire element in the room and creates a flow of abundance. Blue curtains or a water feature on the east wall, on the other hand, enhances the wood element and brings good energy to the family.

Sofas and Poison Arrows

A living room wouldn't be a living room without a sofa, and yours may have more than one. The main sofa should go against a solid wall without a window to enhance the sense of support in the space. Long sofas are fine, but feng shui frowns on L-shaped ones that jut out into the room. These create a poison arrow, which is an object that points at people in the room. Elude poison arrows in general by choosing furniture without sharp edges or points. Hide pointed areas you can't avoid by covering them, preferably with something soft or rounded.

About the Author

Chris Deziel has a bachelor's degree in physics and a master's degree in humanities. Besides having an abiding interest in popular science, Deziel has been active in the building and home design trades since 1975. As a landscape builder, he helped establish two gardening companies.